The aim of my blog is to share all the things I enjoy as I walk around the British countryside, including scenery, photography, history and nature. This includes reviews of gear bought by myself and my husband and places we visit, along with different articles on all kinds of walking related topics.
As the old saying goes, I'll take nothing but photos and leave nothing but footprints.

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Monday, 5 August 2013

Rural ruins

As a photographer I'm particularly drawn to derelict old
buildings in picturesque countryside
settings.There's something about the
contrast between the decaying state of the abandoned manmade structure and the natural beauty of its surroundings.Sometimes the contrast is stark but sometimes
the building actually adds a certain element of interest to the scene, providing
a focal point to an image.Very often I find that the camera doesn't do
justice to what my eyes tell me is a beautiful scene.The inclusion of an old ruin can certainly
add an element of interest.

The image below is Rosedale in the North York Moors National
Park and the ruin was once a cottage belonging to the nearby Rosedale East
Mines.Here, from 1864 to 1926,
ironstone was mined from the daleside by the Rosedale Mining Company.

Today the area is
tranquil but once the whole valley was scarred with mining activity and a
railway connecting the Rosedale East and West mines, covering over ten miles in
total.The site of the railway track
remains as a pleasant route for walkers and cyclists, with various remains from
mining activities along the way, such as the Rosedale East calcining kilns.

The Yorkshire Dales has its fair share of interesting old
buildings too.Whilst I enjoy
photographing the iconic stone barns for which the region is well-known, I
actually prefer finding something a little more unusual, like this
abandoned cottage.

I find abandoned churches in the middle of the countryside particularly
fascinating.The congregation and their
homes have long since gone, but the churches remain, protected no doubt by
legislation which prevents their demolition.

Below is the ruin of Saint Martin's church at the deserted
medieval village of Wharam Percy in East Yorkshire. The village itself was deserted in the 16th
century but the church remained in use until the 1950s by residents of the
nearby village of Thixendale.Today it is
under the care of English Heritage.

Just a few miles away, in the middle of rolling pasture
land, sits the ruined Holy Trinity Church, built in 1890 to replace the previous
church which served the village of Cottam.The village has long since disappeared and all that remains is the ruined
church in which the last service was held in the 1930s.

These are just a few notable examples of the kind of rural
ruins I find so appealing.Each one has
its own story to tell. Eventually nature will take back what man has
abandoned, but in the meantime I for one find them fascinating and strangely beautiful in their own way.